Resurrecting the Champ
is about the shaky ground upon which modern journalism stands and the
relationship between fathers and sons. If that sounds like a difficult
connection to make, it is. It's based on an article in the Los Angeles Times
Magazine by J.R. Moehringer that turned a lie into the writer's truth. The
screenplay by Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett turns it into a lie and then
tries to find truth in its version. The recycling of truth and untruth weighs
heavily on the movie, especially if you know nothing after the plot twist
actually did—or probably could—happen, but even if its ideas are mish-mashed
together, it does have some good points to make. Josh Hartnett stars as Erik
Kernan, a sports writer for a Denver newspaper, who is trying to live up to his
father's name in his career and trying to distance himself from his dad's
personal life. He encounters a homeless man who calls himself "Champ" (Samuel
L. Jackson) and claims to be boxer Bob Satterfield, a former contender for the
championship belt. They talk, and Erik takes Champ's story to heart, pitching
it as an idea for the paper's magazine. Things become complicated after the
story is published, and suddenly Erik is faced with a moral quandary. The
movie's observations about journalism are heavy-handed but effective, with Teri
Hatcher showing up as a representative from a cable boxing program and telling
Erik that journalism no longer exists and has been replaced with entertainment. One can't help agreeing with her, and the way Erik has to face his son (Dakota
Goyo) and admit to the lies fathers tell to appear as heroes is touching. Hartnett is fine in a complex role, and Jackson gets past some pretty weak age
makeup. The script and director Rod Lurie just can't get the parts to meld.